Vested

[rkeyo]

As in "vested interest; vested ownership" (divest), etc. This is a word that one comes across a lot in dealing with private property issues, but a word that is rarely defined: "I am left, therefore, to wonder whether its proponents deliberately set about to unsettle settled law and divest vested rights, or simply had paid too little attention in school."

[skinem]

Welcome, rkeyo!

It is comforting to become vested , but it can be uncomfortable to become divested!

[Perry]

I don't know if this is a rare definition, but it is surely a longstanding one.

vest (v.)
c.1425, "to put in possession of a person," from M.Fr. vestir, from M.L. vestire "to put into possession, to invest," from L. vestire "to clothe," related to vestis "garment, clothing," from PIE *wes- "to clothe" (see wear). Vested "established, secured, settled" is attested from 1766.

Here in the Alpha Agora, one doe not have to wait an overly long period of time to be a vested member.